Drawing and twisting apparatus



July l2, 1960 H. E. DAvls DRAWING AND TwIsTING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 1,1958 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 HARR y E. 0A w;

ATTORNEYJ July l2, 1960 H. E. DAVIS DRAWING AND TwIsTING APPARATUS 2Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 1, 1958 INVENTOR HARRY E. DA v/.s

ATTORNEY endles views:

United States 'Patent #of This invention relates to a combineddrawingand twisting apparatus and more particularly toa mechanism fordrawing a relatively .narrow and thin nlm-like strip orstrips or strandsof plastic vor other material such as paper,- Afor example, whilesimultaneously twisting the strip or strips about the axis of travelthereof to form a stickor cord material. One of the objects of thepresent invention is to pro'- vide a combined drawing and twistingapparatus which includes a pair of endless belts which are so arrangedas to f rictionally grip and draw the strip or strips from one point to4another` while simultaneously -twistingV the strip 2 end plates and 22.End plate 20 is providedwith shaft 24 which is rotatably mounted in theframe part -10 while the .end plate 22 is provided with a shaft 26 whichis rotatably mounted in the frame part '12, the shafts" having axiallyaligned bores 28 and 30 through which the strips 32', see Fig. v3, aredrawn to form the twistedA material 34. A suitable drive pulley 36 issecured to the shaft 24 for operating the apparatus and if desired; apulley 38 may be connected to the shaft 26 for operating a suitablemechanism, not shown, for cutting lhe stick material 34 into convenientlengths. It will be readilyunderstood from the foregoing that rotationof the drive pulley 36 will cause rotation of the movable frame 14which'latter is supported in the frame parts 18 and 12 bythe shafts 24and 26.

Novel means are provided by the present invention for simultaneouslydrawing and twisting the material as it passes through the bores 28 and38 and, as shown, such rr'ieans includes a pair of V`belts 46 and 42which frictionally grip the material 34 in the manner shown in Figs. l,2 and 5. More particularly, the belt 40 is carried 'by spaced-apartpulleys i4 and 46, while the belt or strips about the axis of movementthereofv whereby the twisted stick or cord material is formed Anotherobject of the invention is to provide a sinpli -edconstruction includinga movable frame together or strips`o'r'st`r'ar`ids. f

Still anotherobject is to provide a novel arrangement' of a stationarypulley member and movable pulleys for securing the drawing and twistingoperations during rotav tion ofthe movable frame.

A still further object is to provide vin au 'apparatus of the foregoingcharacter, a novel mechanism for readily.

adjusting the frictional'engagement between the endless belts and thematerial to be drawn and twisted. f

A further object is to provide a novel drawing and twisting apparatuswhich is relatively simple in construe-- tion and wherein the parts arereadily available for'insp'ection and adjustment;

Other objects and novel features of the invention will appear more fullyhereinafter from a considerationjof the -following detailed descriptionwhentaken in connecticn with the accompanying drawings illustrativepfone form of the invention. It is expressly understood however, that thedrawings are utilized for purposes of illustration only and are not tobe taken las a definition of the limits of the invention, referencebeing had for this purpose to the appended claims.

Referring to the drawings, wherein similar 4reference characters referto similar parts throughout'the 'sever-a1 Fig. 1 is a top View partly insection 'ofa combined drawing and twisting apparatus embodying theprinciples ofthe present invention;

Fig. 2 isan axial sectional view of the apparatus taken along line 2--2of Fig. 1;

Figs. 3 and 4 are diagrammatic perspective vie-ws showing the apparatusof Fig. l in two positions of operation; and Y Fig. 5 isV a transversesectional View taken along line s s0fFig.2.

Referring more particularly 'toiFigs 1 and 2, the novel combined drawingand twistingapparatus of the present invention is illustrated therein asincluding stationary frame parts 10 and l2 together with ja movableframe 14, the -latter comprising side plates 16 and 18 together with`s"be lts to simultaneously/'drawand twist .the strip 42 is carried bypulleys 48 land Se, all of said pulleys being positioned between theplates 16 and 18. Pulleys 46 and 58 constitute idler pulleys and are`fixed to shafts 5 2 and 54' respectively, whichare `rotatably mountedin the side plates le and 18 as shown; Pulleys 44 Aand 48 on the otherhand 'are driving pulleys which are .fixed to driving shafts 56 and S8respectively, the latter being 30` with'novelfmotion translatingmechanism for moving the-v rotatably mounted in the side plates leand 18 with tlre shaft 56 extending through; the :plate 16 and with thevshaft 58)extending through the plate 18, see Fig. I1.

Thus it will be seen that -upon rotation of, the drive pulleys 44 and 48in opposite direction s, the adjacentportions ofthe endless belts 48 and42 will travel Ifrom right to left as viewed in Figs. l and 2 to drawthematerial 3 4 through the bore 28 yand pass it through the bore 30.

One ofthe important features of the invention in the novel mechanismwhich is employedfor rotating the drive pulleys ldand 48 in oppositedirections. In the form of the invention illustrated, such meansincludes sprocket wheels 60 and 62 which are respectively/'secured tothe shafts 56 and 58 and which are driven by respective sprocket chains68 and '710. Sprocket wheel "64 i s' rotatably 4mounted on shaft 72which Vis fixed to sideplate '16 while `sprocket wheel 66 is rotatablymounted `on shaft 74which is fixed to side plate 18,.the fixed shaftsbeing in axial alignment as shown in Fig. 5. In order to rotate the'sprocket wheels 64 and 66 durL ingrotation of the movable frame 14, anovelari'angeQ ment including a stationary pulley member 76, 78 i`sutilized. As shown, the stationary pulley member, 76,

78 is formed with a `sleeve 80 within which the shaft 24 is rotatablymounted and such sleeve is fixed to the frame part 10 as by means of aset screw 82. v -rAri endless belt 84 is trained over the stationarypulley member 76, 7 8 andover driving pullleys 86 yand 88 in thel mannershown in Figs; l, 3 and 4, the-driving pulley 86 being secured tosprocket 64 and they in turn being rotatably mounted on fixed shaft'72and the driving pulley 88 being secured to sprocket 66 and they in turnbeing rotatably mounted on fixed shaft 74. A pair of guide rollers 96,92 and 94,

A9 6 are provided for suitably guiding Ithe belt during the apparatus,the rollers 90, 92 being operation of secured to a shaft 98 and therollers 9 4, 96 being secured to a shaft 190. The shafts 23 and 188 arerespectively supported by bearing sleeves 102 land 104 which in turn aremounted on the end plate 28 as shown.

Means are' preferably provided'for adjusting the endless belts 40 and 42in order to adjust the frictional grip between the belts and thematerial 34. As shown, see Figs.

'2,944,379 Patented July 12, 1960 Z and 5, such means comprises a pairof plates los and S positioned between the side plates lo and )i8 androtatably carrying a plurality of rollers Mtl which bear upon the uppersurface of the endless belt 4i); In like manner, a piurality of rollersi12 bear upon the under surface of the endless belt 42 and the rollers112 are rotatably carried by a pair of plates 114 and 116. The positionof the pairs of plates and hence the rollers supported thereby may bereadily adjusted by the adjusting nuts 118 and 12) in order to adjustthe frictional contactbetween the material 3d and the endless belts itland 42.

In operation, it will be understood that the strip or strips 32 are fedthrough a suitable guide or die member 22 and threaded through the bore23, between thc belts 49 and 42 and thence through the bore 3i?. Thedriving pulley 36 is then rotated from any suitable source of power suchas an electric motor, not shown, whereupon the endless belts 40 and 42will be rotated in a direction to draw the material 34 through the bore2: and feed the material through the bore 30. At the same time, theapparatus will function to rotate the belts 40 and 42 about the axis ofadvancement of the material 34 to simultaneously twist the material asit is drawn lengthwise. More particularly, and assuming in Figs. 3 and 4that the driving pulley 36 and movable frame 14 are moved in acounterciockwise direction as denoted by the arrow A, it will beunderstood that due to the co operation between the stationary pulleymember 76, 7S, the endless belt ed and the driving pulleys 86, $8, thelatter will be rotated in opposite directions to cause rotation inopposite directions of the sprocket wheels 66 and 62 through cooperationbetween the latter and the respective driving sprockets 64 `and 65 andthe sprocket chains 68 and 70. Since the sprocket wheels 69 and 62 areconnected with the driving pulleys 44 and i8 through the respectiveshafts 56 and S8, the said driving pulleys will rotate in oppositedirections and the portions of the endless belts 4t) and 42 infrictional engagement with the material 34 `will travel from right toleft, as viewed in Figs. l4 in order to draw the material through thebore 28 and feed it through the bore 3% as the material issimultaneously twisted.

The present invention is particularly well adapted to the formation ofsubstantially rigid stick material from a relatively narrow strip 'orstrips of plastic film which are self-sealing under the application-ofheat and tension, such as shown in my copending application SerialNumber 739,258, filed June 2, 1958, for Twisted Sticks and Method ofManufacture. ln such case, the guide 122 may be a heated die member andthe strip or strips 32 may be angularly fed thereto in the mannerdisclosed in said copending application and drawn therethrough undertension by the apparatus disclosed herein. However, the invention may beutilized for drawing and twisting various types of strip or strandmaterials as Well understood by those skilled in the art. Reference willtherefore be had to the appended claims for a denition of the limits ofthe invention.

What is claimed is:

1. Apparatus for drawing and twisting a relatively thin and narrow stripor strips to form a stick material, comprising a pair of spaced-apartrotatable shafts each provided with a bore for receiving said strip orstrips, a pair of endles belts positioned between said shafts forfrictionally gripping said strip or strips and for feeding the strip orstrips through said bores and along a path between said bores, a frame,spaced-apart pulleys rotatably carried Vby said frame for supportingsaid belts, means for rotating said frame, pulleys and belts about saidpath to twist the strip or strips, and means for rotating said pulleysand belts to simultaneously draw the strip or strips through one of saidbores and to feed the strip or strips through the other bore, includinga pair of rotatable pulleys, a stationary pulley member and belt meansconnecting said pair of rotatable pulleys with said statonary pulleymember.

Z. Apparatus for drawing and twisting a relatively thin and narrow stripor strips to form a stick material, comprising a stationary frame, amovable frame having a pair of shafts rotatably mounted in saidstationary frame, said shafts being provided with axially aligned boresthrough which said strip or strips are fed, a pair of endless beltscarried by said movable frame and positioned to frictionally grip saidstrips, and means for rotating said belts to draw the strip or stripsthrough one of said bores and feed the strip or strips through the otherbore and for simultaneously rotating the belts about the path ofmovement of said strip or strips to twist the latter including a pair ofrotatable pulleys carried by said movable frame, a stationary pulleymember carried by said stationary frame, and belt means connecting thesaid stationary member and said rotatable pulleys.

3. Apparatus for drawing and twisting relatively thin and narrow stripor strips to form a stick material, comprising a stationary frame7 amovable frame having a pair of shafts rotatably mounted in saidstationary frame, said shafts being provided with axially aligned boresthrough which said strip or strips are fed along a path of movement, apair of endless belts carried by said movable frame and positioned tofrictionally grip said strip or strips, means for rotating said movableframe and belts about said path to twist the strip or strips, a pair ofdriving pulleys forrsimultaneously rotating said endless belts to drawthe strip or strips through one of said bores and feed the strip orstrips through the other bore, and means for rotating said drivingpulleys including a pair of rotatable pulleys carried by said movableframe, a stationary pulley member carried by said stationary frame, andbelt means connecting the respective pulleys. Y 4. Apparatus as setforth in claim 3 which comprises in addition, means carried by themovable frame for adjusting the frictional engagement between theendless belts and the strips.

5. Apparatus as set forth in claim 3 which includes in addition, a pairof sprocket wheels carried by said movable frame, and means rotatablyconnecting the respective sprocket wheels with the respective rotatablepulleys.

6. Apparatus for drawing and twisting a relatively thin and narrow stripor strips to form a stick material, cornprising a stationary frame, amovable frame having a pair of spaced-apart shafts rotatably mounted insaid stationary frame, each of said shafts being provided with a borethrough which said strip or strips are fed, a pair of rotatable memberscarried by said movable frame and positioned between said shafts forfrictionally gripping Y said strip or strips and for feeding the latterthrough said bores and along a path between said bores, means forrotating said movable frame and rotatable members about said path totwist the strip or strips, a pair of sprocket Wheels rotatably carriedby the movable frame and respectively connected with said rotatablemembers, and means for rotating said sprocket wheels and rotatablemembers to simultaneously draw V the strip or strips through one of saidbores and to feed the strip or strips through the other bore, includinga pair or" rotatable pulleys carried by the movable frame, a stationarypulley member carried by the stationary frame, an endless beltconnecting said pair of rotatable pulleys with said stationary pulleymembenvand means including a pair of sprocket chains respectivelyconnecting saidV pair of rotatable pulleys with said sprocket wheels.V

No references cited.

